Counterterrorism, politics, religion, ...

June 28, 2011

WASHINGTON -- The passage of historic legislation legalizing same sex marriage in the state of New York last Friday was owed in large part to a compelling political motivator: money.

Although New York's legislators were already disposed to approving gay marriage because of the more progressive disposition of the state and a major grassroots campaign in support of the bill, LGBT activists from both parties turned to a simple, poignant argument: Lawmakers not only stood to gain the support of well-funded gay-rights supporters if they backed the bill, they would suffer if they opposed it or shied away from the spotlight. (continue at Huffington Post, hat tip Marcus Wilder)

June 27, 2011

American soldiers are still dying in Iraq, the Iraqi government is split, there may be a lawsuit to see who actually leads the country, non-Muslims are being targeted, some government employees are not receiving their pay (maybe because they are women?), and old enemies stir up trouble again. Let's take a look at Iraq today and a look forward to a time when US troops will no longer be present in Iraq.

June has been the deadliest month for American combat fatalities in more than two years, with two U.S. service members killed in Northern Iraq Sunday for a total of 11 killed by hostile fire. In Baghdad, a suicide bomber in a wheelchair blew himself up at the entrance to a police station north of the city yesterday, killing three people and wounding 18, officials said. The majority of U.S. Troops are supposed to be out of Iraq by the end of the year.

In Iraq, nothing is guaranteed, especially peace and freedom. A group of Sunni tribal leaders in Ramadi protest the killing of Hamid Ahmed Shahab, a local police commander, by members of the Iraqi Army. According to the New York Times, American officials have said that Moktada al-Sadr is still linked to some armed groups in Iraq that attack Americans and has made statements about returning to violence if the Americans prolong their stay which create a political dilemma for Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who relied on the support of Mr. Sadr’s followers in Parliament to secure a second term. In January of 2011 Sadr, in his first public address since his return home after about four years of self-imposed exile (ayatollah school in Iran), called on Iraqis to support the newly-formed government, while resisting the US troops.

... as remaining U.S. troops prepare to withdraw from the country by the end of the year, military commanders are warning that there could be an uptick in attacks against them. So far this year, 22 troops have by killed by hostile fire in Iraq, equal to the number killed in combat in all of 2010, according to Icasualties.org

Elsewhere in Iraq on Sunday, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a police station about 15 miles north of Baghdad. At least two police officers were killed and 17 others were injured, including eight civilians.

Iraqi media reported that one Iraqi soldier was killed in an armed clash near Mosul in northern Iraq, and that two civilians were killed in Kirkuk when a bomb detonated next to a convoy carrying a local official, according to the Aswat al-Iraq news agency. (WP)

See graphs from iCasualties.org below for Iraq and Afghanistan as we look at the situation on the ground in Iraq:

American soldiers are technically in an advisory role to the Iraqi military.

Many of the remaining American military bases in Iraq, particularly in the Shiite- dominated south, have faced an increasing number of rocket and mortar attacks. Officially, the United States is now in an advisory role to the Iraqi military — last year President Obama declared the official end of combat operations — which means United States forces are restricted from acting unilaterally. This has increased frustrations among the American military command, which believes the Iraqi government is reluctant to attack Shiite militias, many backed by Iran and some linked to political parties here, that are carrying out the attacks against Americans.

For example, American officials have said they believe that Moktada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric who disbanded his Mahdi Army in 2008 and has taken on a prominent political role, is still linked to some armed groups that attack Americans. Even more troubling for the Americans — and Iraqi Sunnis, for that matter — are Mr. Sadr’s frequent statements that he will reactivate the Mahdi Army if the American military does not withdraw by the end of this year. An agreement that binds the United States and Iraq requires that all American forces leave by year’s end, but the Iraqi political leadership is considering asking for American troops to stay to continue training the Iraqi forces. (NYT)

There is a bitter feud between two top Iraqi leaders, Ayad Allawi, the leader of the Iraqiya bloc, and the country's prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki,which ...

Fifteen months after an election that was supposed to lay the groundwork for Iraq's future, the government remains virtually paralyzed by a clash between the country's two most powerful politicians, who refuse to speak to each other. [snip]

The United States has been unable to end the stalemate, demonstrating to some analysts and Iraqis its waning influence here.

Mr. Allawi, whose party received the most votes in last year's election, has yet to show up in Parliament. Mr. Maliki has run the government on his own, and his aides have threatened to sue Mr. Allawi for calling them lying tyrants and claiming they are supported by Iran.

As the deadlock grinds on, political assassinations and attacks on American bases have increased significantly.

"This is the biggest dispute that has occurred here since 2003, and it will continue to escalate if a solution is not found, and that is our concern," said Jabir al-Jabiri, a member of Parliament from Mr. Allawi's Iraqiya bloc. (NYT)

There is much unrest in Iraq because of the political situation and the violence. The unrest presents in many different areas:

Unpaid for months, the Daughters of Iraq, women responsible for scaring off Iraq’s female suicide bombers are trying to afford necessities of life for their families while keeping vigilant watch at their checkpoints.

In April of this year, marking eight years of the Iraq war, hundreds of Iraqis marched across Baghdad calling for the immediate end of the occupation. "No to occupation, no to foreign troops," protesters in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square and the northeastern Adhamiya neighborhood shouted.

Iraq is, no doubt, a Muslim state. But the battle as to how much of an Islamic state it will be rages on. How much freedom will Christians and those of other faiths have in Iraq? How much will Islamic law, Sharia, rule in Iraq. One example may be the sale and consumption of alcohol. Under Saddam Hussein, alcohol consumption in public places was forbidden. In 2005, the Ministry of Interiorabolished Saddam's alcohol, nightclubs and casinos restriction law ... because it interfered with and limited the personal freedom of Iraqis. As a result the number of stores selling alcohol increased, especially in the non-Muslim communities in Baghdad.

Iraqi Government raids on establishments selling alcohol have increased in January 2011. The bottles, windows, glass refrigeration units are broken and the owners are told "This is an Islamic state." Apparently every other religion within Iraq must live by the Islamic law. If the Christians were not being persecuted for selling alcohol, it would be for something else or simply for being Christian.

“If a Christian sells flowers, they kill him,” Ameen Chamo said of a raid on his store Wednesday, which inflicted $70,000 in damage.

“If he sells a goose, they kill him. It makes no difference.” (On Islam)

US President Barack Obama can announce "Operation Iraqi Freedom is over", all he wants but that doesn't mean that the violence is over or that the war is won. Nor does it mean that the Iraqi government is functioning as we in the West would like.

The truth for us here in the United States is that we cannot stay there forever, we have a signed agreement with the Iraqi government (no matter how dysfunctional it may be). SOFA, the Status of Forces Agreement, states that US combat forces will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011. For better or worse we must now allow Iraq to either stand on her own and work out her version of a free country, or revert to something else. May they choose wisely as America now also starts a draw down of forces in Afghanistan -- but that's anotherstory.

Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Will Represent Former First Lady Nancy Reagan At Certain Events;

Former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese to Attend and Speak in Budapest

Simi Valley, CA – As part of the year-long, historic Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration, four European nations –Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom – will honor the 100th birthday of President Reagan with a series of tributes from June 27-July 4, 2011, including Ronald Reagan statue unveilings in London and Budapest. Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will represent Former First Lady Nancy Reagan at several events.

“Ronnie would have been so touched that his centennial birthday is being celebrated in London and Central Europe,” said Former First Lady of the United States Nancy Reagan. “He felt a special bond with the people who struggled to be free, and was so very thankful that Great Britain shared our commitment to bringing down the Iron Curtain. I know he would want these events to remind us all of the power of freedom.”

Few countries are more important to the global economy than China. But its reputation as an unstoppable giant -- as a country with an unending supply of cheap labor and limitless capacity for growth -- masks some serious and worsening economic problems.

China’s labor force is aging. Its consumers save too much and spend too little. Its political and economic policy tools remain crude. Its state bureaucracy seems likely to curb spending just as exports weaken, and thus risks deflation. As U.S. consumers retrench, and as the global commodity bubble begins to dissipate, these fundamental weaknesses will combine in a way that’s unlikely to end well for China -- or for the rest of the world. (Illustration by Jonathan Zawada)

To start, China is much more vulnerable to an international slowdown than is generally understood. In late 2007, my firm’s research found that too few people in China had the discretionary spending capability to support its economy domestically. Our analysis showed that it took a per-capita gross domestic product of about $5,000 to have meaningful discretionary spending power in China. (continue reading at Bloomberg, hat tip Marcus Wilder)

Recently, Yale shutdown its Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Anti-Semitism (YIISA). Some claimed that the center was perhaps too "political."

Almost simultaneously, on June 23, 2011, the University of California at Berkeley's Center on Race and Gender issued its first annual "Islamophobia" report. The report is a project of the Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project (IRDP), whose mission statement says: "The IRDP focuses on a systematic and empirical approach to the study of Islamophobia and its impact on the American Muslim community. Today, Muslims in the U.S., parts of Europe, and around the world have been transformed into a demonized and feared global 'other,' subjected to legal, social, and political discrimination."

June 26, 2011

A Druse physician from the Golan Heights, who works at an Israeli hospital, was one of 24 members of his community arrested for pummeling IDF troops with rocks during so-called Naksa Day protests. Just a few miles south in Daliyat El-Carmel, the Israeli Druse community is planning a memorial museum that will tell the stories of the 400 Druse soldiers who fell in defense of the Jewish state. In Lebanon, meanwhile, the Druse leadership has become an essential constituent in the Hizballah-dominated government.

Just where do Druse loyalties lie?

An understanding of their history can help answer that question. The Druse are a breakaway stream of the Ismaili strain of Shi'ite Islam, followers of an ascetic Egyptian ruler named Al-Hakim (996-1021), himself a descendant of Muhammad's son-in-law Ali. Influenced in part by Greek ideas, Al-Hakim's persecuted followers broke away from orthodox Islam, eventually coalescing into tight-knit communities in the mountainous regions of Lebanon, Syria and Israel, awaiting the messianic return and salvation of their leader.

For most of the nation’s history, the Atlantic region — primarily New York City — has dominated the nation’s trade. In the last few decades of the 20th Century, the Pacific, led by Los Angeles and Long Beach, gained prominence. Now we may be about to see the ascendancy of a third coast: the Gulf, led primarily by Houston but including New Orleans and a host of smaller ports across the regions.

The 600,000 square mile Gulf region has long been derided for its humid climate, conservative political traditions and vulnerability to natural disasters. Yet despite these factors, the Gulf is destined to emerge as the most economically vibrant of our three coasts. In Forbes’ rankings of the fastest-growing job markets in the country, six Gulf cities made the top 50: Houston, Corpus Christi and Brownsville, in Texas; New Orleans; and Gulfport-Biloxi and Pascagoula, in Mississippi. In contrast, just one Pacific port, Anchorage, Alaska, and one small Atlantic port, Portsmouth, N.H., made the cut.

This reflects a long-term shift of money, power and jobs away from both the North Atlantic and the Pacific to the cities of the Gulf. The Port of Houston, for example, enjoyed a 28.1% jump in foreign trade this year, and trade at Louisiana’s main ports also reached records levels.

This growth stems from a host of factors ranging from politics, demographics and energy to emerging trade patterns and new technologies. One potential game-changer is the scheduled 2014 $5.25 billion widening of the Panama Canal, which will allow the passage to accommodate ships carrying twice as much cargo as they are able to carry currently. This will open the Gulf to megaships from Pacific Basin ports such as Singapore, Shanghai, Pusan and Kaohsiung, which have mostly sent their cargos to West Coast ports such as Los Angeles and Long Beach. Some analysts predict that more than 25% of this traffic could shift to Gulf and South Atlantic ports. “More of Asia will be heading to this part of the world,” says Jimmy Lyons, CEO of the Alabama State Port Authority. (continue reading)

June 25, 2011

There remains no greater threat to the Republic of the United States of America than that perpetrated by Progressive politicians and their supporters. The Islamic jihadists, who desire to destroy America, do so openly. The Chinese, who wish to surpass American military and economic might, do so openly. Lone Wolf terrorists and criminals within the U.S. perpetrate their crimes openly. Only Progressives seek to diminish the U.S. Constitution subversively, under the deception of patriotism. They remain the true instigators of treason, of subverting American values and laws in order to affect their global, fascist ambitions.

Without the Constitution, what?

Conservatives believe that the Constitution of the United States represents the law of the land for American citizens. Written so that illiterate citizens could understand its premise, if not its words, the Constitution addresses the powers and limitations of a central federal government, corralling the responsibilities of the Presidency, the Judiciary, and the Congress through a system of checks and balances where no singular institution could reign supreme. Most importantly, however, the Constitution remains unaltered without the consensus of three-fourths of the States, preventing individuals from reinterpreting the context of national law.

Progressives, to the contrary, believe that the Constitution represents a “living, breathing” document, archaic in its words, progressive in its implementation. They remain quick to point out past discrepancies (slavery, women’s suffrage, etc. – long since changed through Constitutional amendments) as evidence of the inability of America’s founding fathers to foresee the future requirements of “society.” To the Progressives, Constitutional amendments are unnecessary because enlightened judges can interpret Constitutional mandates as they see fit. The Constitution, therefore, merely represents a guide for instituting American law, not a fixed and defined set of national principles, moral values, and individual rights.

Just as a pebble can start an avalanche, we will not rest until millions of righteous people arise to stop those who would destroy Israel and bring America to her knees. Our voices must be heard. Next step: take it to the floor of the People’s House. Take it to the Well!

As you know, Israel is receiving tremendous pressure directly from President Obama and his administration to accept the 1967 armistice lines as her new borders. Implementation of these borders would mean that parts of Israel would become Arab-Palestinian, regardless of a UN Hamas/Fatah mandate.

The reality is: Obama's G8 resolution and a UN mandate are one and the same – to place Israel in a most vulnerable, threatened position by September, forcing her to accept the word of terrorists. If the President were to pursue his desired course of action to fruition, the United States would be destined to collapse from within. She would never recover from the debt incurred from abandoning her position as defender of freedom in this world.

June 24, 2011

Like two peas in a genetically-engineered pod, Barack Obama and Al Gore share the same green dream. Both are immersed in the propaganda of climate-change and man-made global warming and have been for years before Obama was elected. Man-made global warming is not real science. It is agenda-science. Agenda-science - because it serves the agendas of those out to do harm to America. Facts are a nuisance to globalist factions that are using fraudulent climate claims to gain power, control and vast amounts of wealth. "Green" is mean. It mandates lean times. It is a deal breaker for American prosperity. Barack Obama knows this.

In London's Sunday Telegraph, Christopher Booker wrote: "As the great global warming scare continues to fade away, the real problem is that our politicians have so much collective ego invested in this delusion that, even when hell freezes over, they will still find it impossible to admit they got it wrong."

The question is - is Obama using global warming as a tool to drain the U.S. treasury and weaken America's security on behalf of global socialist interests? Obama knows that green or renewable energy is nowhere developed to the point of replacing oil, gas and coal as this nation's core energy sources. Yet, Obama pushes to collapse fossil fuel industries before alternatives are in place. Depleting America's Strategic Oil Reserves as an artificial fix to high gas prices, instead of drilling for oil as a permanent solution, weakens America. Doing so not only threatens our economy, but our national security. Weakening America enhances the prospect that Obama can relinquish our laws, wealth and resources to globalist demands. That Barack Obama has done severe damage to America - is no accident.

Seemingly impatient, Al Gore has stated his vision of becoming the first global warming "billionaire." Gore reportedly has set-up a trading exchange, akin to the commodities market, to globally trade CO2 carbon credits. Reportedly, Gore would position himself to oversee which countries and companies can emit CO2 carbon emissions based on payments that would equal billions. Reportedly, companies will be bribed to participate or stand accused of breaking international law under the auspices of a globalist ruling council such as the United Nations. Gore appears to have staked his financial future on false science. America cannot afford to do so.

Reports reveal that Obama, Gore, General Electric, George Soros and Goldman-Sachs are major players in the "green" agenda. The question is: Does America flourish or can its economy survive under the socialist climate-change agenda? Climate-change coupled with the green movement is about globalists controlling American rights, freedoms and resources. Some American schools are now forcing "green" agendas into their curriculums and climate-change is being called science. What is being fervently avoided is the "fact" that worldwide more than thirty-two thousand scientists call man-made global warming "total nonsense."

Perceiving the economic threat, England's Parliament is revolting against more stringent climate targets, while Poland stood against the European Union's move to increase CO2 emission targets. Director of The Global Warming Policy Foundation, Dr. Benny Peiser remarked: "It's a bright day for Europe's hard-pressed taxpayers, its' a good day for the economy, it's a great day for climate realists." For Americans, it will be a "good day" when elected officials stand against those inside and outside our government who do us harm under the deceptive banner of "green."

Sharon Sebastian (www.DarwinsRacists.com) is an author, writer, and contributor to various forms of media including cultural and political broadcasts, print, and online websites. In addition to the heated global debate on creation vs. evolution, her second book, Darwin's Racists - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, highlights Social Darwinism's impact on America's political ideology and its influence on current policy out of Washington. Reviewers proclaim "Darwin's Racists" a "Must Read," "Incredibly Timely" and "Perhaps the Most Important Book in Publication Today," as it addresses Social Darwinism's national influence with its Marxist/Socialist underpinnings that directly impact the fractious political, educational, religious, and social environment in America today. Website: www.DarwinsRacists.com

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